An aircraft that encounters cold and moist air may be susceptible to the formation of ice on various surfaces of the aircraft. Under such conditions ice accretion on wings, turbine elements, or other surfaces may compromise the flight characteristics of the aircraft. Such conditions are referred to as “known icing conditions,” and intentionally entering an area of known icing conditions is referred to as Flight Into Known Icing, or FIKI.
Various international authorities require that a new aircraft design must be certified before it can be flown under actual icing conditions. While FIKI certification takes into consideration a number of factors, one aspect of the certification process may require flight tests of the aircraft or its components in measured simulated icing conditions. Such certification test flights may require that the aircraft be flown with artificial ice shapes attached to wing and/or tail leading edges. Dry air flight tests with artificial ice shapes installed allows airplane performance and handling characteristics to be evaluated in stable dry air conditions with the critical ice shape remaining a constant (i.e., no change of ice accretion due to erosion, shedding, sublimation, etc., as can occur with natural ice shapes). In addition, the artificial ice shapes must exhibit a defined quality of surface roughness, in order to more closely match the characteristics of accreted ice.
Currently, these artificial ice shapes may be constructed on the wing itself, using fiberglass and resin. Ice shape materials may be mechanically secured to the wing surface using bolts or other fasteners. Artificial surface roughness features are typically achieved by modification of the surface of the ice shape after attachment to the aircraft. As a result, FIKI certification is both time-consuming and expensive. Furthermore, when the certification flight is completed, removal of the artificial ice shapes often causes damage to surfaces of the test aircraft, further increasing the cost of the process.